Feeling Misled by Ambiguous Job Descriptions: How Do You Handle This in Recruitment?

Hello all, I believe the issue I am about to discuss in this post has been faced by most placement consultants at some point in their careers. I am new to the recruitment field, but I have worked in the sales and marketing department in different positions, so I understand well the differences between various sales roles.

Issue with Job Description for Lead Generation Executive

My company received a requirement from an IT firm for a Lead Generation Executive. However, I faced an issue with it. I lined up a pre-sales consultant for the position. After four days of searching and calling, I found a pre-sales candidate. However, when I shared the job description with him, he declined even a telephonic interview.

Please download and open the attached file. This is the requirement document I received from the company. Now I feel that the company HR has intentionally made it ambiguous.

Concerns About Ambiguity in Job Descriptions

I believe the HR has included different types of sales position keywords like 'business development executive,' 'inside sales,' and 'pre-sales' in the requirement document to gather resumes for all sales department positions for future use. Also, look at the title of the document; it is 'marketing executive,' which is another position in the sales department.

I am feeling professionally harassed. As an industry senior, what are your comments on the attached document?

Understanding Job Specifications and Requirements

In the given document:

- The job position is for a Business Development Executive - International Sales.
- The Desired Profile states:
1. The candidate should be a graduate in any discipline with a minimum of 1 year of pre-sales experience in an IT company for the Latin America/Asia/Middle East market.
2. ...
3. ...

You should know that lead generation, cold calling of prospective customers, and pre-sales are all Business Development activities. I think you focused only on pre-sales experience and ignored other requirements. Please reread the Job Specifications again.

Also, remember that in business, the customer is always right. If you receive an order, you should focus on fulfilling it rather than making excuses and complaining about the client. A complaint is valid if the client has taken work from you and not paid you for your services. Here, it is very clear that you are not able to comprehend his requirements.

This is in addition to what Mr. Raj Kumar Hansdah has said. What you have quoted is not even harassment; far from being "absolute harassment." What you have expressed in your post is your frustration. You are frustrated because you feel that your efforts have gone in vain. This frustration arose because your client declined to accept the CVs that you had sent to them. The client declined to accept the CVs because they found a mismatch between their requirements and the CVs sent to them. The mismatch resulted from a gap in understanding between you and your client.

Lesson Learned

The lesson for you is to understand the client's requirements clearly. If required, you may have a small telephonic discussion for each position. This discussion might help you in deciding the right parameters of selection and avoid in the future the situation that has prevailed now.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Request for Clarification from Mr. Dinesh Divekar

Sir, I do not get along with the community member. Please review my post again. It was the candidate who refused to go for the interview because the JD document is tricky. Candidates are also smart nowadays, and they shortlist companies as well.

Sorry for using the title "harassment"; it was just to attract prompt responses. The only point I intended to make through this post is whether it could be true that the HR wanted sales positions' resumes for her other company.

Note: The HR has been with the company for the past 18 years since its inception. She is the only HR in the company. The company owners have many other companies in real estate, the stock market, the infrastructure sector, etc. All of them are based in Delhi.

Regards

If the job candidate refuses to attend the telephonic interview, it indicates a lack of interest from the candidate. Recruitment is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Therefore, what you found was a twig in the haystack, not a needle. Please search for the needle, and you will find acceptance from either side.

Regarding your criticism of Mr. Raj Kumar Hansdah: Mr. Hansdah is a very senior member who has been providing his comments for more than a decade. Therefore, you could have been a little more charitable while commenting on his post.

Final Comments

The crux of the issue is the refusal of the prospective job candidate to participate. He is within his rights to do so. How can it be considered harassment on your part? In every business, businessmen have to deal with the idiosyncrasies of customers and still manage to grow. Lastly, the heading of your post has also misled me and Mr. Hansdah. Please be cautious while writing your posts.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar